Commenting on Ofsted’s Work with Schools, a new report from the House of Commons Education Select Committee, Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“The Committee's report suggests some important changes but does not grasp the true scale of the problem. Any model of change must begin by understanding the deep crisis that schools are enduring in respect of workload, staffing, attendance and mental health. We don't see such an understanding reflected in these recommendations. While we recognise the greater transparency they will bring to Ofsted's work, they fall well short of the reform that we need. They will not significantly relieve the pressure on schools.
“What this report clearly shows is that the relationship between Ofsted and the profession has broken down, and trust is next to non-existent.
“Schools are complex, and single-word judgements are not a sustainable means of assessing them. Replacing them with a more considered statement is important, but, as the work of the Beyond Ofsted commission has shown, dialogue between schools and 'improvement partners' is much more likely to yield genuine change. We need Ofsted to be replaced altogether by a system of inspection which is supportive, effective and fair. The inspectorate in its current form is none of these things.”